Cincinnati donors all in for Romney

Monday

Apr 30, 2012 at 12:01 AMApr 30, 2012 at 11:32 AM

WASHINGTON - Cincinnati-area GOP donors closely affiliated with Sen. Rob Portman have given Mitt Romney an early fundraising edge over President Barack Obama in Ohio, a strong indication of the competitiveness of the race in a state both candidates need to win.

Jessica Wehrman, The Columbus Dispatch

WASHINGTON — Cincinnati-area GOP donors closely affiliated with Sen. Rob Portman have given Mitt Romney an early fundraising edge over President Barack Obama in Ohio, a strong indication of the competitiveness of the race in a state both candidates need to win.

While Obama has a fundraising lead nationwide, he’s slightly lagging Romney in Ohio, largely because the former Massachusetts governor early on secured support from Cincinnati-area families with deep ties to Portman and the GOP, including the Lindners, Castellinis and Farmers.

Portman’s early endorsement of Romney, Ohio’s status as a battleground state and the Ohio senator’s background as a congressman, cabinet member and senator have placed him on a shortlist of possible GOP vice-presidential candidates.

Nowhere in Ohio is Romney more popular among political donors than in the Cincinnati area, where donors have shelled out more than $727,000 for Romney — more than double the $308,283 that Obama has raised in that part of the state, according to an analysis by the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonprofit organization that tracks money in politics.

In all, Ohioans have dumped more than $4.9?million into the presidential campaign, including a little more than $3.2 million directly to Obama and Romney, according to the Federal Election Commission.

Obama can claim a handful of “bundlers” from Ohio — volunteers committed to raising money for Obama to cushion him against the “super-PAC” onslaught he is expected to face over the next six months.

“I certainly contribute, and I’m trying to help him raise money, so if that’s a bundler, I guess I’m a bundler,” said Robert Rawson, a Cleveland-based attorney who has mostly reached out to Ohio friends to raise money for the Obama campaign.

Rawson and other bundlers have their work cut out for them: In February alone, Romney raised $931,396 from Ohioans — nearly seven times the amount that Obama raised from Ohioans during that period.

That has since shifted significantly: In March, Obama outraised Romney in Ohio, $261,279 to $116,572.

In all, Romney has raised $1.6?million from Ohioans, outpacing Obama in Cleveland, Cincinnati, Columbus and Dayton.

“I strongly support him,” said retiree Marvin Losey of Dublin, who gave $500 to Romney’s campaign last fall. His wife, Virginia, gave $250. “I thought by far he had the best credibility of anybody there.”

Members of the Lindner family — which is affiliated with the American Financial Group and United Dairy Farmers — have contributed $37,679 to Romney in this campaign. The Farmer family, associated with the southwestern Ohio-based uniform company Cintas, contributed $17,500. And the Castellinis, owners of the Cincinnati Reds, have kicked in $10,000. Romney has yet to disclose a comprehensive list of bundlers — FEC rules require candidates to reveal only bundlers who are lobbyists — but Carl Lindner III, Robert Castellini and Richard T. Farmer were all bundlers for George W. Bush in 2004.

Romney has raised more than $86?million for his bid nationally.

Obama, meanwhile, has raised more than $191?million, including more than $1.5?million from Ohio donors. Nationally, he’s received most of his donations from the big-donor states of California, New York and Illinois.

While Romney received much of his money from southern Ohio, Obama did far better in northern Ohio, particularly in the wealthy Cleveland suburbs of Beachwood and Shaker Heights.

In Columbus, he has raised $166,459 to Romney’s $189,250, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. In Dublin alone, Obama raised $20,764. In Westerville, he raised $12,133, according to FEC data. Romney, meanwhile, raised $28,606 in Dublin and $5,858 in Westerville.

“(Obama’s) performed, from my point of view, very well as a president in times that would have been testing for anybody — on the economic side and world affairs,” said Rawson, who has given the maximum $5,000 to Obama.

Donors connected with Rawson have contributed $173,750 for Obama, according to the center.

Donors connected with Michael Cioffi, a Cincinnati attorney identified as an Obama bundler, meanwhile have contributed $346,350 to Obama for this election cycle. Obama bundlers Ronald Ratner and his wife, Deborah, who are affiliated with Forest City Enterprises, have wrangled $478,870 for Obama, according to the center.

Adding to the cash infusion in this election: super-PACs — outside groups spending money on the election — have dumped at least $81?million into the race, according to the center.

While Ohio lags other states in fundraising, Ohioans will no doubt see the fruits of candidates’ fundraising labors: No Republican has ever won the White House without winning Ohio.

Nathan Gonzales of “The Cook Political Report” said that the fact that Romney has raised more money in Ohio doesn’t necessarily mean Ohio is a lock for him this fall.

“It just means that rich Democratic people live on the coast and don’t live in Ohio,” he said. “ But plenty of money will be spent in Ohio. This is more of a function of where these big donors live, rather than how the state is leaning electorally.”

jwehrman@dispatch.com

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